Dai Mubai and Tang Shuo, Worlds Apart; Zhu Zhuqing Misses Tang Shuo!

"Don't go!"

Seeing this, Dai Mubai's expression changed abruptly, and he immediately reached out to stop her.

Ning Rongrong froze and turned back.

"What are you doing?"

Xiao Wu and Tang San also looked over in confusion.

Dai Mubai looked at the bearded, somewhat scruffy young man pushing a cart in the distance, his expression hard to describe.

"That guy's sausages... you girls had better not eat them."

"Why?"

Ning Rongrong was even more puzzled.

"Are they unclean?"

Dai Mubai shook his head, seeming to choose his words carefully.

"Not exactly..."

He sighed and simply shouted at the young man.

"Hey! Oscar!"

The young man named Oscar looked over at the sound. When he saw Dai Mubai, his eyes lit up.

"Well, if it isn't Boss Dai. What, want one?"

Dai Mubai said irritably:

"Forget about me. Make another one and show these new junior sisters."

Hearing that, Oscar immediately perked up and cleared his throat.

"Watch closely!"

He stretched out his right hand, spread his palm, and loudly chanted in an extremely strange, even somewhat lewd tone:

"I've got a big sausage!"

Buzz.

A yellow soul ring rose beneath his feet, and soft white light gathered in his palm.

The next second.

A steaming grilled sausage, fragrant and enticing, appeared in his hand out of thin air.

For a moment, the scene fell completely silent.

The expression on Ning Rongrong's face shifted from curiosity to astonishment, then flushed crimson before finally turning into a trace of disgust.

Zhu Zhuqing directly turned her head away, her face covered in frost.

"Disgusting!"

"I'm not eating that!"

Xiao Wu also grabbed Tang San's sleeve and took a step back.

Tang San's expression darkened.

"Are you bullying them?"

Tang San's voice was not loud, but it carried a chill.

Seeing this, Dai Mubai hurriedly waved his hands.

"Misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding!"

He shot Oscar a fierce glare before turning back with a forced smile.

"Oscar is just like that. His martial soul is food-type, so his soul incantation is... well, like that."

"To apologize, beautiful junior sisters, my treat. How about we go have a meal at the best restaurant in Soto City?"

His gaze mainly rested on Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong.

Zhu Zhuqing did not even look at him and merely said three words flatly.

"Not hungry."

Ning Rongrong crossed her arms and snorted coldly.

"Who cares! We can eat by ourselves!"

The smile on Dai Mubai's face immediately froze.

Being rejected by two stunning girls in succession made even this veteran of romance feel unable to save face.

He coughed twice and could only wave his hand in disappointment.

"Then... all right."

"Your test is in the wooden house at the very back of the village. I won't disturb you."

With that, he turned and left dejectedly.

Watching Dai Mubai's retreating back, a deeper trace of disgust flashed through Zhu Zhuqing's cool eyes.

Earlier, although Tang San and the others had spoken with Dai Mubai from some distance away and their voices had been quiet,

she had trained since childhood, and her hearing far exceeded that of ordinary people. She had heard every word.

That blond-haired, dual-pupiled youth had only met her for the first time.

Yet he had said that he had "taken a liking" to her.

He had even said, "She's mine."

Frivolous. Shallow.

Another figure involuntarily surfaced in Zhu Zhuqing's mind.

In the Star Dou Great Forest, that person had remained calm even when facing a ten-thousand-year soul beast. With every gesture, divine light had suppressed everything.

When he treated her injuries, his gaze had been clear, without the slightest impure thought.

Even when she had invited him herself, he had merely smiled faintly and said he was a Demon Prodigy, with places he had to go.

Compared to him, Dai Mubai was simply worlds apart.

"Hey."

A voice interrupted her thoughts.

At some point, Ning Rongrong had moved beside her and lightly nudged her with an elbow.

"Still thinking about that annoying guy from earlier?"

Zhu Zhuqing came back to herself and shook her head.

Ning Rongrong blinked her beautiful large eyes and studied her curiously.

"Then what were you thinking about? You looked so absorbed."

Zhu Zhuqing fell silent for a moment, gazed into the distance, and softly said:

"A friend."

"A friend?"

Ning Rongrong's eyes immediately lit up, her tone full of gossip.

"A boyfriend or a girlfriend?"

The tips of Zhu Zhuqing's ears grew slightly hot. Her gaze drifted away as she stammered:

"He... he's a man."

"Wow!"

As though she had discovered a new world, Ning Rongrong immediately laughed and teased:

"I knew it! Looking at you like this, he must be the one you like!"

"Anyone who can make you think of him so often can't be ordinary, right?"

Zhu Zhuqing did not deny it.

She nodded.

"Mm."

"He's very strong."

After a pause, she said word by word:

"He is my... goal, someone worth giving everything to catch up to."

"I'll work hard. One day, I'll catch up to his footsteps."

Inside Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.

Tang Shuo had completed his enrollment procedures. Bai Baoshan escorted him to a secluded and elegant private courtyard, explaining that all expenses would be waived and that his movements would not be restricted in any way.

Tang Shuo merely smiled faintly and thanked him.

After Bai Baoshan left respectfully, he began strolling around the academy.

Tang Shuo's goal was clear.

First, he would take a look around the girls' dormitories.

Dugu Bo's granddaughter, Dugu Yan, should be living in that area.

If he wanted to enter the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, dealing with this "beautiful viper" first was undoubtedly the most convenient route.

He walked at an unhurried pace, looking relaxed, as though he had come here merely to sightsee.

Before long, an elegant pavilion entered his view. In front of it was a specially cultivated medicinal garden.

However, the state of the garden was far from good.

More than half of the spirit herbs had drooping leaves, looking listless and on the verge of withering.

A girl in the academy uniform was crouched by the medicinal garden, her slender back radiating deep distress.

"Sigh..."

A nearly inaudible sigh drifted over.

The girl stood up. She was slender and upright, with long black hair tied behind her head by a simple ribbon.

She extended a fair hand and gently touched a yellowing blade of grass, her eyes full of helplessness and heartache.

She had failed again.

Why were these spirit herbs so difficult to keep alive?

Her name was Ye Lengleng, and her martial soul was the Nine-Heart Begonia, reputed to possess the greatest healing ability on the Douluo Continent.

Because of her martial soul's nature, she had developed a strong interest in spirit herbs with healing properties from a young age.

Growing ordinary medicinal herbs had required almost no effort.

Later, she challenged herself with rare spirit herbs that had extremely demanding growth requirements.

Once the difficulty increased, watering and fertilizing alone had become useless. She had to constantly use her Nine-Heart Begonia martial soul to channel soul power and nourish them with the purest healing energy just to barely maintain their vitality.

The batch before her had been something she had painstakingly begged from a teacher who had returned from a distant journey.

No matter how she activated the Nine-Heart Begonia or poured in soul power, these spirit herbs continued to wither day by day.